1. Technical Field
This invention is related to systems for locating specific vehicles within holding lots at motor vehicle assembly plants, and more particularly to an electronic system for quickly locating vehicles based on the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the particular vehicle to be located.
2. Discussion
Most motor vehicles such as cars and trucks are assembled in large quantities at an assembly plant having one or more holding lots. These holding lots are usually very large, often covering dozens of acres, and sometimes hundreds of acres of ground. Often, a holding lot may be large enough to hold up to 5,000 vehicles or more. They are typically used to temporarily store vehicles which require minor repairs before being shipped to a dealership for sale, or vehicles to be used internally by the vehicle manufacturer. Most holding lots also include a uniform network of lamp posts placed evenly throughout the holding lot, such as every 100 feet in a grid pattern throughout the holding lot, for illuminating the holding lot at night.
When specific vehicles need to be located, this can be a cumbersome and time consuming task. Typically, the VIN for each vehicle is given to an individual who then must go out onto the holding lot and manually check the VIN for every vehicle parked on the lot which matches the make and color of the vehicle associated with the VIN. On large holding lots, it can often take an individual 30-60 minutes just to locate a single vehicle. Accordingly, this arrangement for locating specific vehicles is extremely inefficient, labor intensive and time consuming.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an electronic system which enables vehicles to be quickly located based on the VIN assigned to each vehicle.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electronic system for locating particular vehicles from within a large number of vehicles parked on the holding lot of a motor vehicle assembly plant, wherein the system does not require the use of hand-held portable transceivers or other like devices to enable personnel on the holding lot to quickly locate the particular vehicles requested.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an electronic system for locating particular vehicles within a large number of vehicles parked on a holding lot of an assembly plant, where use is made of the lamp posts which are spaced evenly throughout the holding lot in a grid pattern, such that only a limited amount of additional structure needs to be installed on the holding lot to accomplish the task of quickly locating specific vehicles based on the VIN assigned to each vehicle parked on the holding lot.